But proposed changes on Palmetto Park Road are still up in the air as the city works on making the area more pedestrian-friendly.

"We've never done this right before," Mayor Susan Whelchel said about past efforts to redevelop Palmetto Park Road. "Maybe we should spend the money to do it right this time. We can wait another 20 years for development to take place, or we can create it, the infrastructure, and plan for future growth."

The Community Redevelopment Agency board, which is also the City Council, wants to slow down traffic and widen sidewalks throughout downtown to make it easier to navigate on foot.

The board on Monday gave its consultants the green light to begin designing a pedestrian promenade along Northeast First Avenue and parts of Palmetto Park Road, Northeast Second Street and Boca Raton Road.

Lanes on Northeast First Avenue would be narrowed to build wider sidewalks. The city would eliminate curbs on the street that would have brick pavers. And the street would have raised intersections and bollard lighting all along the road.

A portion of Northeast Second Street near Mizner Park also would have brick pavers and crosswalks.

Boca Raton Road would have narrow lanes and wider sidewalks. The street would be asphalt, but the sidewalks would have brick pavers.

Throughout the promenade, there will be increased landscaping and pedestrian-level street lights. The $3 million project is to be completed by the end of the year.

But the CRA board is faced with some hard choices on Palmetto between Mizner Boulevard and Northeast Fifth Avenue.

It can install a large median with landscaping to slow traffic. Last year, landscaping was added to the road west of Mizner and traffic slowed down by 5 mph. But a new median between Mizner and Fifth Avenue would hamper access to businesses.

Plus, that approach, which also would include wider sidewalks, would require eliminating on-street parking. Some area businesses and residents weren't happy with that.

"If there's not someplace to park, whether on the street or relatively close, I'm not going to walk up and down Palmetto Park Road," said Susan Christensen, a longtime Boca Raton resident.

The city could just eliminate parking on one side of the street to put in a narrow median, but that would not allow room for wider sidewalks.

Another option is eliminating on-street parking, making the sidewalks larger but excluding a new median. Or the city could just put in raised intersections with brick pavers.

Slowing down traffic on Palmetto Park worries Adam Beighley, who lives a block north of the road. People trying to avoid the pokey traffic on a revamped Palmetto Park would no doubt use his street as a shortcut, he said.

"If you don't think these cars are going to go around this, you're very shortsighted," he said. "When the traffic is slowed somewhere, it's going to increase somewhere else."

The CRA board will continue to evaluate the options for Palmetto Park at its next meeting.

Angel Streeter can be reached at astreeter@SunSentinel.com or 561-243-6537.